Doubled in Four
by PepperjackCandy
Summary: This was written between Harvest and Meet the Dupes.


Title: Doubled in Four   
By: PepperjackCandy   
Rating: G

Disclaimer: Roswell is owned by Jason Katims, 20th Century Fox, Melinda Metz, etc..   
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The flourish of trumpets brought Liz back from her daydreaming. She glanced down at herself to make sure she still looked presentable. Everything was in place -- the tight fitted bodice of her white gown showed neither too much cleavage nor too little.   
  
She glanced to her right, where Max sat, wearing an outfit that resembled a fairytale prince, perhaps, or the Jack from a deck of cards, also in pure white.   
  
{Is this my wedding?} Liz wondered.  
  
She looked to her left. There was an empty chair next to her, and seated in the next seat was Isabel, also in a white gown, but of a distinctly more Isabel-esque style than Liz's own gown.  
  
To Isabel's left, at the far end of the row, sat Michael, in a white bodysuit that clearly was of an alien style.  
  
{Isabel's with Michael. Does that mean . . .} Liz then steeled herself to glance down the row farther to Max's right. Sure enough, there was Tess, looking every bit the royal alien princess in her white gown. If Liz hadn't made her peace with what had to be, she would have hated Tess right then.  
  
Sitting to Tess's right was Alex, wearing a white suit that made him look like a pale, lanky Mr. Roarke from Fantasy Island.  
  
Taking up the end seat of the row was Maria, her hair short once more, wearing what for all the world looked like her favorite leopard-print top, leather skirt and go-go boots, only all in white.  
  
{Michael's with Isabel, Max is with Tess, Alex is with . . . Maria? But who do I get?} Her question was answered immediately by the arrival of an out-of-breath Kyle, wearing a hip-looking Armani-styled suit, also in pure white.  
  
"Sorry I'm late," Kyle whispered with a glance at the women seated on either side of him. "I had to have the jacket let out at the last second." He flexed his pecs with a wink at Liz.  
  
The trumpets sounded again, as thousands of beings, both alien and human, filed into the room. There was a dull hum as the audience conversed among themselves. The sounding of the trumpets for the third time brought the conversation to a stop.  
  
The stately blonde that Liz knew to be Max and Isabel's mother floated into the room, then, with an entourage following closely behind her. The members of her entourage each carried a white velvet pillow upon which rested crowns and tiaras of varying shapes and sizes, each encrusted with what appeared to be diamonds.  
  
The trumpets began playing softly as the queen mother placed one of the smallest diadems, though "least huge" would probably be a more appropriate description, on Maria's head.   
  
Then the queen mother reached back for the next crown, which she placed on Alex's head.   
  
The next tiara went to Tess, who accepted it with a smooth grace that Liz could never hope to match.   
  
Then the queen mother glided to the other end of the row, placing a crown on Michael's head.  
  
Next, a tiara went on Isabel's head, and the queen mother planted a soft kiss on her daughter's cheek as she crowned her.  
  
The next-to-last crown went to Kyle, who looked exceptionally nervous as he accepted his crown.  
  
Just then, Liz noticed that only she and Max remained, and that the final tiara and crown were much larger than the others. She glanced from the final tiara to Max's face, then to his left hand, which wore a simple gold band. A matching ring rested on her own left hand.   
  
It was then she realized that she and Max were the couple, not Max and Tess. Not Liz and Kyle. She didn't know why she hadn't realized it before. She accepted her tiara from her mother-in-law with a smile, receiving a kiss like the one the queen mother had bestowed upon Isabel.  
  
The trumpets rose to a resounding crescendo as the queen mother crowned her son. Max looked calm to the casual observer, but Liz could tell that he was nervous. Until they'd found a peaceful way to end the conflict with the Skins, Max had never really believed that he would ever rule his home planet. He still had trouble accepting it at times.  
  
After Max gave his acceptance speech, the eight newly-crowned nobles retired to a private room, where they could relax for a moment before the formal reception.  
  
Liz kicked off her shoes and her toes cracked. "I don't understand how your people could make such comfortable fabrics," she indicated her form-fitting dress, which felt as comfortable as a sweatsuit, "but women's dress shoes are still so damned uncomfortable."  
  
Max laughed and pulled her up to him for a kiss. "I'll have our scientists start working on it in the morning."  
  
Liz looked around at the other couples, Michael and Maria, Kyle and Isabel, Alex and Tess, and said, "I don't get it. How did this happen?"  
  
Max smiled and indicated a pair of chairs to one side. "Remember when Michael found out that there were two sets of four pods?"  
  
Liz nodded.  
  
"Well, one was Isabel, Tess, Michael and me, and the other was a sort of emergency backup copy of us. Or maybe the four of us were the emergency backup copy. It doesn't really matter which.  
  
"What matters is that the extra copy turned out to have been needed. The Skins found the other set of pods in 1982, and destroyed them." 

"1982?" Liz asked. "But, that's the year that I was born."  
  
Max nodded. "And Kyle, and Maria, and Alex. You see, when the other four pods were destroyed, their essences were released, and took the best potential new homes they could find. . . ."  
  
"The four of us." Liz concluded for him.  
  
Max nodded. "Each of you have the talents that the four of us posessed in our previous lives, but never expressed in this lifetime. Yours, for example, is precognition. That's why you're having this dream."  
  
"This is a dream?" Liz wondered unnecessarily. "Somehow, I think I've always known that."  
  
"Tess did get Max, finally." Max nodded at Tess and Alex.  
  
"And Michael and Isabel ended up together, too." He nodded to Michael and Maria.  
  
"As for Isabel and me," he smiled. "We took the wisest of advice and married our best friends."  
  
"But I never thought that you and Tess were that good of friends." Liz asked.  
  
"We aren't." Max grinned as realization dawned on his bride.  
  
"You mean that I'm Michael?" Liz asked as she felt herself being drawn away into wakefulness.  
  
~ ~ ~  
  
"And that means that Kyle is Tess." Liz heard herself say as she awoke. But as soon as she said it, she forgot what she'd said.

She only knew that she'd had a most unusual dream about her three best friends.  
  
* * *  
  
At school, Maria approached Liz at her locker. "Hey." Maria said.  
  
"Morning." Liz looked at her friend. "I had the strangest dream last night. And you were in it."  
  
"Really? What was it about?"  
  
Liz shook her head. "I don't have the foggiest idea."   
  
Just then, Alex stumbled towards them. "Morning."   
  
"Hey, you were in my dream last night." Liz greeted him.  
  
"Dream? What dream?" Kyle said as he arrived.   
  
"You were there, too." Liz said to him. "It was the weirdest dream, but I couldn't tell you a thing about it."   
  
Just then, the first bell rang, and the foursome scattered. But not before Liz could catch up to Alex and ask him a question she was just dying to know the answer to.  
  
"Alex? What do you think of Tess?"

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Author's Note:  
  
This is an accidental AU fic inspired by Greer's statement that "the Royal Four" had come to them in Copper Summit. Sure looked like "the Royal Three-Quarters and Liz" to me. So for what's-his-name's statement to be true, Liz would have to be Michael, which reminded me of the other four pods, and the rest is history.  
  
Speaking of history, the title "Doubled in Four" actually pertains to the Mandylion, a picture of Jesus that, legend has it, cured the King of Edessa. The Mandylion is described as being "doubled in four," which seemed an appropriate title for my little tale of love and reincarnation.


End file.
